60 Days for Calibration

I was recently told that if a FR was out of calibration and you flew a
badge leg, you *now* had 60 days instead of 30 to get the calibration
done. If that is the case, could someone post a URL to the document? I
get a headache and nosebleed on the FAI site trying to find stuff, and
I could find no change to the 30 days from the stuff I looked at.

Thank You-

Joe
Atlanta GA USA

Joe,

I just checked the FAI site and also almost got a nosebleed and
headache and as far as I know it is still 1 month after the flight.

I am an SSA Approved Category II lab and offer 1 day turnaround
calibration service for all Flight Recorders.

http://www.craggyaero.com/calibration.htm


Richad
www.craggyaero.com

wrote:
I was recently told that if a FR was out of calibration and you flew a
badge leg, you *now* had 60 days instead of 30 to get the calibration
done. If that is the case, could someone post a URL to the document? I
get a headache and nosebleed on the FAI site trying to find stuff, and
I could find no change to the 30 days from the stuff I looked at.

Section 4.4.7:

http://www.fai.org/gliding/sc3.4.4

Marc

Thank you Thank you Thank you. It appears that my source was right on,
we have 60 days with an electronic FR. It read as follows:

4.4.7 Barograph calibration
period

Barograph calibrations are required to ensure that the measurement of
barometric pressure and time are checked against, and corrected as
necessary, to official standards. For altitude and gain of height
records, both (a) AND (b) calibrations below are required, and the
least favourable calibration of the two shall be used making the
calculations for the record. For badges, start height verification,
and altitude difference calculation, either (a) OR (b) are required.

a. PRIOR TO THE FLIGHT

The calibration used must have been performed within 12 months prior to
the flight or, for IGC-approved electronic barographs and FRs, 24
months.

b. AFTER THE FLIGHT

The calibration used must have been performed within one month after
the flight or, for IGC-approved electronic barographs and FRs, two
months.


Thanks Again. I think I said that..:-)
Joe

I just don't get the 2 month after-the-flight calibration. I know that
their must be some logic to this but it escapes me.

Say I fly a great flight for diamond distance. My FR is out of wack by
1,000 feet (unlikely but possible). I send it in for calibration and
now it is perfect. How does that help the previous great flight?
Isn't the previous log file still 1,000 feet off?

I have to assume that I get a chart that says "Your FR was out of wack
by 1,000". I then supply that with the badge or record documentation?

ContestID67 wrote:
I just don't get the 2 month after-the-flight calibration. I know that
their must be some logic to this but it escapes me.

Say I fly a great flight for diamond distance. My FR is out of wack by
1,000 feet (unlikely but possible). I send it in for calibration and
now it is perfect.

No, the units aren't modified during calibration.



How does that help the previous great flight?
Isn't the previous log file still 1,000 feet off?

I have to assume that I get a chart that says "Your FR was out of wack
by 1,000". I then supply that with the badge or record documentation?

You've answered your own question. You supply a copy of the chart
with the claim, and critical altitude readings are adjusted manually
to make them more accurate. It's highly unlikely that the pressure
baro readings would actually be off that much, and the GPS altitude
readings don't drift with age, so it's not a big problem.

The baro does not get changed during calibration. It's errors are just
plotted against the test chamber. So if it's 1000' off, then that is
applied to the flight in question.

For a mechanical barograph, a "golden" graph is created to be used in
measuring the altitudes. Over the years, this curve may change due to
aging of the bellows, etc.

Electronic barographs pretty much stay constant, but every two years,
one must make sure this is so.

Hope that helps.

-Tom

I seen max of 200 to 300 feet at the higher altitudes 30,000 to
35,000.



Richard
www.Craggyaero.com
SSA Category II Calibration Lab